sharing stories… sharing lessons… shoring up the future
My mother, Joyce Barbara Shapland, or ‘Joy’ for short was playing tennis well into her 60’s. In my thirties I thought – along with her much younger tennis partners – that she was far too old for such vigorous activity and that she should be in a wheelchair. As my 67th birthday looms into focus…
The HEMA Atlas and Guide ‘Great Desert Tracks contains useful practical advice about where to go. ‘One of the most obvious things missing from a bush camp is a toilet.’ ‘However,’ it goes on, ‘with some toilet paper and a shovel you’re fully prepared…’ For most conditions it seems. The advice continues. ‘Don’t forget to…
This is a venture involving the best of Great Britain and Australia. But that sounds a bit dull. So, I set out telling people it should be the third pillar of AUKUS – that defence alliance between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States that followed Australia’s decision to buy nuclear powered submarines from…
It’s been seven days since my last post. Seven days during which we have waited with bated breath as Alfred wandered around like an old man, seeming to forget where he was going, soaked us all and finally blew himself out well inland. There have been some places much more affected than this community. We…
If you’re reading this in the UK, cyclones probably sound exotic and vaguely tropical – even exciting perhaps. If you’re in Queensland, you’ll know all about them. They’re a bit of a nuisance. Alfred is our most recent, forming on 23 February 2025 in the Coral Sea. Townsvillers have said they’ll still play cricket…
Just finished a mammoth five days and nights that I won’t get back! It’s been all about trying to turn Land Rover 2 into a mini service station. Any desert driver will tell you a good way to avoid bogging is to let the tires down. Traction in sand is all-important and the greater the…
Between 1987 and 1990 the Australian Army’s Project Perentie led to the production of approximately 2,500 4×4 Land Rover 110 vehicles. Two of them now live in Moggill, on the edge of the Brisbane River. In October 1989 Australia’s Maintenance Engineering Agency released a Perentie Special Edition of their newsletter, aimed at the soldiers who…
Final servicing on Peter found this. Almost no brake fluid in one reservoir. A slight stain on the internal tyre wall gave a further clue. As the wheel came off, things looked dirtier and grimier – and this is the offending item cleaned up! A gremlin must have got into the wheel cylinder and gnawed…
So, we’re going to the Simpson. In two Land Rovers. Well, we’d better look for another…! This one came from auction, transported up from New South Wales. On the surface it looked ok – nice paint job, canopy a little worn perhaps! But on the inside it showed evidence of a harder life. Serious dings;…
Time to move on from highlighting lessons of others to generating some lessons of our own. The ‘Old Crocks’ Simpson Desert Charity Fund-raiser Four men over 60, two vehicles over 30, and a bunch of second-hand equipment into the Simpson Desert: that mesmerizing land of endless dunes, ancient culture, and untamed adventure. What could possibly…